Americas Violence

Violence in America is becoming more of a concern to everyone in our nation. Among

the traditional scapegoats are media desensitization, broken homes and the always popular

presence of guns in America. I do believe that the problem is one that should be solved,

but I do not think that the proper solution is one that is given enough consideration: Not

a high enough presence of guns in the hands of the law abiding citizens in America.

It is widely believed that without guns, humans would not be able to kill their fellow man.

While I admit that guns do have the potential to aid in murder, it is necessary to remember

that murder began long before firearms entered society. People who wish to murder will

find a way to do it. The only thing that taking guns away from the general public will

accomplish is to make potential victims unable to defend themselves. Unfortunately, it is

nature for the stronger to dominate the weaker. Firearms are a way that the weaker can

protect themselves from those that nature just happened to make stronger and life just

happened to make angrier.

A perfect example can be found in the community of Kennesaw, Georgia. In Kennesaw,

residential burglaries were becoming unfortunately common. To try and solve this

problem a law was passed requiring the head of each household to keep a weapon in the

home. Within one year of the law being passed, residential burglaries fell 82%. I think

that this example shows that criminals loose much of their willingness to take advantage of

the general population if the population is armed.

Still, I know that there are people who will disagree with me and claim that the only way

to completely end violence is to end gun ownership. However, according to an FBI study,

violent crimes do not involve guns as often as many people believe. According to the FBI

study, only 13% of violent crimes involve firearms. The other 87% of violent crimes

involve some kind of physical...